A half hour drive from Ernakulam city is the elegant Chittor Palace, almost four hundred years old, once the summer home of the Maharajah of Cochin. Renovated and restored by Inspiration, it is now accessible to the public as a charming home-stay. The building stands as living proof of Kerala's elegant and powerful architectural style.

Quite unlike other grand palaces, this one comprises only four rooms enclosed within verandahs that run on either side, the building appears more like a ‘padippura'.

The façade of the structure remained untouched while the flooring has been repaired . Glass doors have been put in to improve the lighting and 25 windows were restored with some of the wood being replaced by glass panes .Thus creating a more airy structure has allowed for a magnificient view of the Chittoor Puzha backwaters.

Close by is the ‘kulam' lined with laterite stone and has a traditional ‘kulappura' at the entrance.An old wooden door leading to the beautiful granite steps was moved from another royal home and on to the pond.

The furniture from the Rajah's other palaces has been expertly replaced here, except for a teak bed which the Rajah used in Chittor and its design is repeated in all the beds in the palace. The only addition is an outhouse for the caretaker, for in the old days they lived around the palace compound.